ORIGINAL ARTICLE Measuring population mental health and social well-being Eric Van Lente • Margaret M. Barry • Michal Molcho • Karen Morgan • Dorothy Watson • Janas Harrington • Hannah McGee Received: 15 December 2010 / Revised: 16 October 2011 / Accepted: 17 October 2011 / Published online: 3 November 2011 Ó Swiss School of Public Health 2011 Abstract Objectives This paper examines the relationships between indicators of positive and negative dimensions of mental health, social well-being and physical health. Methods The paper reports on data collected in the third National Survey of Lifestyle, Attitudes and Nutrition (SLA ´ N 2007), a cross-sectional survey conducted with a representative sample of 10,364 Irish adults. The survey included measures of positive mental health and non-spe- cific psychological distress from the SF-36 questionnaire, together with measures of social well-being, subjective health, and selected health behaviours. Results Positive mental health is predicted by lower levels of loneliness and higher levels of social support. Better self-rated health, positive health behaviours and lower GP consultation rates are associated with higher levels of positive mental health. Lower levels of social well-being, were found to be the strongest predictors of negative mental health. Conclusions Social well-being and health behaviours correlate with both positive and negative mental health. These findings highlight the need to endorse comprehensive approaches to population mental health promotion. The inclusion of both positive and negative mental health indica- tors in future population health surveys is supported by the findings. Keywords Population mental health Á Social well-being Introduction There is increasing recognition internationally of the need to address mental health as an integral part of improving population health and well-being (WHO 2002, 2005). Despite this, relatively few population health surveys include indicators of mental health as part of their suite of measures. From a population perspective, mental health problems have a high prevalence and impose a significant burden in terms of social and economic costs (WHO 2003; Williams et al. 2005; Friedli and Parsonage 2007). In addressing the burden of mental disorder, it is recognised that treatment approaches alone are not sufficient and that a more comprehensive population-level approach is required, which includes promotion, prevention, specialist treatment and rehabilitation (WHO 2002, 2003). The World Health Organization’s Mental Health Declaration and Action Plan (WHO 2005) for Europe, the European Commission’s Green Paper on ‘Towards a strategy on mental health for the European Union’ (European Commission 2005) and the UK Foresight project (Foresight Mental Capital and Wellbeing Project 2008) have all highlighted that the social and economic prosperity of Europe will depend on improving population mental health and well-being. Accurate information on population mental health status and its determinants is critical to informing mental health improvement policy and planning at a population level. E. Van Lente Á M. M. Barry (&) Á M. Molcho Health Promotion Research Centre, National University of Ireland, 16 Distillery Road, Galway, Ireland e-mail: margaret.barry@nuigalway.ie K. Morgan Á H. McGee Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Ireland D. Watson Economic and Social Research and Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland J. Harrington University College Cork, Cork, Ireland Int J Public Health (2012) 57:421–430 DOI 10.1007/s00038-011-0317-x 123